Category Archives: Live the Journey

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09/20/2011

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Unwind

You’ve probably noticed the lack of posts lately. I went to the beach last week and took a vacation from everything. Well, that’s only part of the reason. Mainly, the silence has been because I ran out of words (which is perhaps the worst thing a writer can do).

At the start of last week, a friend told me that I needed to unwind. Either her words were prophetic or the chaos swirling in my brain was more evident than I realized. In any case, she was right. So I set my mind to unwind.

Ironically, I think that in telling myself to unwind, I only wound myself up tighter. “Why isn’t this working? Why can’t I think? Breathe? Write? Why can’t I release this chaos?” After a week of such questions, I’m happy to say that I found the answer… I can’t unwind on my own. And here’s the happy part of that news:

In Matthew 11:28, Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Note that it says, “I will give you rest.” Not, “You will find rest because you sought so hard.” Did you get that? Rest only comes when we stop striving to achieve it and simply let God fulfill His promise. And yes, it is a lot easier said than done.

I wanted to unwind all at once. I wanted to force all this clutter from my mind and start fresh. But God knows that if He lets that happen, I’ll unwind with the intensity of a high-speed tornado. The aftermath would not be pretty.

But I think I’m finally getting it. I’m slowly starting to unwind and things are beginning to look a little more clear. I’m piecing together a few of the lessons I learned at the beach and will be sharing them in the days to come. So join me on this once upon a time journey where even the mundane is an adventure…

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08/31/2011

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Jesus Moments

The reoccurring theme of my life the past few weeks has been “making myself more aware of God’s presence”. Well, I asked that God would make me more aware, so I shouldn’t be all that surprised when He answered.

Sunday night at youth group, we talked about “Jesus moments”. You know, those moments when God steps in and does something amazing and you just can’t help but talk about it. Call me naive, but I really thought this would be a simple subject. I truly believed I would be able to get some answers out of my middle school girls. But none of them seemed too anxious to share. They got off topic (as middle school girls are prone to do) and I let them go for a while before posing the question: “Why is it so easy to talk about this kind of stuff, but so hard to talk about Jesus?”

You know what they told me? They said it’s because they experience all that other stuff every day, and Jesus moments only happen every once in a while. I wanted to cry. To fall on my knees and weep over the sad state of my world. I felt like screaming. Are you kidding me? Jesus moments happen every single day!

Why do we get it in our minds that it has to be the big things? We wait for something monumental to happen before we talk about Jesus. But one of my greatest “Jesus moments” ever was a hug from a friend. Just a hug from a friend. It would have blended in with the many other hugs from that friend, except it came in a moment that I really needed it.

But as I challenged my girls, I also challenged myself to share my Jesus moments more often, to talk about my relationship with God more freely, and to start a few more conversations that start with something like this: “So, the other day, Jesus and I were chillin’ in a parking lot, and I was suddenly struck by how beautiful God is…”

Because those kind of moments happen every day, and they truly are worth talking about.

P.S. I want to hear your Jesus moments. Share them in the comments, please! 🙂

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08/22/2011

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Espressos and Cream

the shape of each leaf is a mystery

too deep to comprehend.

a million miracles surround me

while i complain that there’s

not enough room for cream in my espresso.

-Steven James

This quote struck a chord in my heart, reminding me that I’ve misplaced my sense of wonder somewhere in the mundane routine of my life. I’ve failed to let myself be captivated by the beauty that surrounds me because I’ve immersed myself for too long in the trivial.

And I find myself having to repent for being so hard to impress. For being shallow enough to think that the cream and espresso sized things actually matter. For being too distracted to even take notice of the glorious surprises God creates just for me.

It’s time to return to that “once upon a time” adventure. To recapture the wonder of the fairytales. To allow myself to be fascinated by the familiar.

As the Little Mermaid wanted to be “part of that world”, as Cinderella wanted “more than a dream”, I want so much more than days that are filled with espressos and cream.

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08/15/2011

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Hearing it from You

One of the students in my youth group posed the question: “Why do some people find it so hard to open up to God when He knows everything anyway?”

A leader volunteered that maybe it’s because we tend to think that if we suppress something, it will go away. She suggested that maybe people are afraid to open up because when you talk about something, you can’t pretend it doesn’t exist.

I could see truth in her statement, and maybe that really resonates with you, but I found that my silence resulted from something else entirely. My problem lay directly in the ending of my young friend’s question. God already knows everything… so why bother telling Him about it?

It took me a long time before I realized that God actually likes hearing from me. Yes, He already knows the things that are in my heart, but He wants to hear them from my mouth. To know that I want Him to know. Maybe that thought is hard to wrap Your mind around, so let me phrase it this way:

My aunt used to regale me with tales of “Samantha this” and “Samantha that”. While I loved hearing what my little cousin was doing, nothing delighted me more than when Samantha herself would walk up to me in wide-eyed wonder exclaiming, “Guess what?”

She could tell me the same story I had heard only five minutes earlier from her mom, yet I would hang on Samantha’s every word. Why? Because I loved hearing the story from her point of view, seeing it through her eyes. I loved the childlike enthusiasm. I loved the fact that she wanted me to be privy to the many facets of her life.

So be reminded that, yes, God already knows the intimate details of your life, but He also cares greatly about you. Nothing delights Him more than when one of His children approaches Him in wide-eyed wonder and says, “Guess what?”

So go ahead and give it a try. Your heavenly Father is waiting to hear from you.

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08/12/2011

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Letting Hope Out of the Box

I’ve found that the reoccurring theme in my life recently has been about taking risks, trusting the unseen and embracing the unfamiliar. In pondering all these things, I’m brought back to the lesson of Pandora’s Box.

Now, for those of you who haven’t brushed up on your Greek mythology in the past few years, Pandora is the woman who is accredited for releasing evil into the world. See, Pandora was the guardian of a box. A box that was never to be opened. Of course, in this mythological twist on the story of Adam and Eve, Pandora’s curiosity got the best of her and the box didn’t stay closed. The moment it was opened, a myriad of evil creatures rushed out into the world. Pandora struggled to shut the lid and revoke her bad decision, but it was too late. Pandora had been burned. And what’s a girl to do when she’s just released a whole horde of evil into the world?

Then came a tiny voice, begging to be set free. But Pandora was afraid. She had caused so much harm already. What if this made it worse? But for some reason, Pandora decided to take the risk. She decided to trust this thing that she couldn’t see. Tenaciously she opened the box… and hope floated out on butterfly wings.

Now, I don’t believe for a moment that this is truly how darkness entered the world, but pretend for a moment that it was. What would have happened if Pandora had allowed her original mistake to keep her from trusting the small voice? What if she had been too afraid to risk again? To trust again? What if Pandora had left hope in the box? What kind of world would we live in today?

It’s so easy to become embittered by life. When bad things happen, we harden our hearts. When people hurt us, we close ourselves off. We’re afraid to risk again. To trust again. And so we leave hope in the box.

Today I encourage you to learn from Pandora. Set aside your disappointments, disenchantments and past mistakes. Take the risk, trust the unseen and let hope out of the box.

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08/06/2011

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Celebrating Dreams

Lately, my mind has been filled with dreams. I talked about them a lot when I was in India (perhaps because my very presence there was the fulfillment of a twelve-year-old dream). This past weekend, I met the infant son of my childhood best friend, causing me to remember all the years we played with baby dolls and dreamed of the day we would be mothers together. A couple days ago, I celebrated the seventh anniversary of my cousin Leah’s birth. It would take a whole separate blog to explain that dream.

But today, I celebrate yet another dream. It was one year ago today that I hesitantly took a step toward fulfilling a dream God had birthed in my heart a short time earlier. A dream that is now the blog you’re reading. This past year has been a long, hard journey filled with questions, doubts, and fears, but it has also been one of the most rewarding years of my life. (I find that the challenging years usually are.) It has been a beautiful thing to watch these lifelong dreams unfold before my very eyes.

God gives us dreams for a reason, but Satan is so quick to discourage us when that dream isn’t instantly fulfilled. We forget the preparation needed to make that dream a reality. We forget that sometimes it takes twelve years. And we begin to wonder if we were right about the dream in the first place.

But God’s timing is perfect. And dreams do come true. The dreams we’ve known all our lives, and the dreams we haven’t yet dared to dream.

So may we always take a day to celebrate our dreams, and may we live all the other days in pursuit of them.

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07/27/2011

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Touch the World

I watched Nim’s Island the other night. Not my favorite movie, but it happened to spark something in my heart on this particular night. If you haven’t seen the movie, when eleven-year-old Nim’s father gets lost at sea, she sends a distress call to the adventure hero, Alex Rover. Unfortunately, Alex Rover is actually Alexandra Rover – a novelist who happens to be “mildly agoraphobic” and hasn’t left her apartment in six months. But when she gets this email from Nim, she finds herself on a rescue mission.

So in this particular scene, Alexandra stands just inside the door of her apartment, unable to move. Her fictional character Alex Rover (who often makes appearances in the flesh), stands outside the door with his arm extended to her. “Take my hand, Alexandra. Touch the world.”

A rather panicked Alexandra gives the classic response: “I don’t want to touch the world. It’s not sanitary!”

Story of my life. Well, not the unsanitary part. If anything, I probably have an underdeveloped fear of germs. But I can relate to the fear of “touching the world”. I generally shy away from such adventures because it’s not easy, not safe, not practical, not “me”… The list goes on. (I’m pretty much a master at coming up with excuses.)

I feel a lot like Alexandra Rover. I feel like I’m standing at the doorway of an incredible adventure, but I’m too afraid to take the next step because I’m not sure what the next step even is. And there God stands, reaching out to me. “Take my hand, Rebekah. Touch the world.”

I don’t want to touch the world. I do, but I don’t. I do, but I’m scared. I do, but… I do. I do want to touch the world. I do want to leave a mark here. I do want to take God’s hand and step out into the unknown. I do… even when I don’t.

The same arm He extends to me is extended to you. So come along with me. Forget your fears, take His hand, and touch the world.

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07/20/2011

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Life Like a River

I waded down the river of an Indian jungle. Took another unsure step. The rock beneath my foot shifted, causing me to stumble. A hand reached out to steady me. I smiled at Sunil – my friend and my guide. We walked hand-in-hand down the river. Occasionally, he would guide me to the other side, telling me it was safer to walk there. I trusted him. After all, he knew this river better than I did. All the way down and all the way back up, I didn’t fall once. Yes, there were a few times that I stumbled – even a time that I lost my shoe – but Sunil’s firm grip on my hand kept me upright.

When Sunil asked me to think about why God brought me to India and what purpose it would play in my life now, my mind drifted back to the river. That river, much like my life, is unpredictable. I never know if my next step is going to be steady, or if the rocks of life are going to slip out from underneath my feet. But life, much like that river, is so much easier to manage when you don’t have to walk it alone.

I think we lose so much of life’s adventure in the planning. I’m one of those people who loves to know what’s going to happen ahead of time. Taking a step into the unknown can be unnerving. When the water is deeper than we anticipated, it can be downright scary. But sort of like my Indian guide was there for me, God is there to hold our hand, to keep us from falling, and to guide us to safety.

I used to think I had my life all figured out, but I’ve come to a place where I have no idea what God is doing with my life right now. I can barely see the next step, let alone what’s going to happen a few weeks into the future. But for the first time in my life, I feel like it’s okay to not know. For now, I’ll just keep holding onto Jesus as I take an unsteady step into the river that is my life.

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07/15/2011

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The Beauty of Redemption

I returned to the United States with India temporarily tattooed on my hand, but permanently ingrained on my heart.

Meeting up with my brothers in Mumbai was definitely a highlight of my trip, but the real miracle happened when our team left the city. After spending a few days amidst the poverty and pain of Mumbai, the lush, green haven called Ashagram washed over me. I sensed immediately what one of the former street boys confirmed only a few hours later: “This is a healing place.”

I know that it’s a healing place for those who were rescued from the darkness of the streets of Mumbai, but I also believe that each one of my team members experienced that healing in one way or another.

The term “beauty from ashes” has never meant so much to me. The hungry street boys I saw in Mumbai… I met them at Ashagram. Their eyes were aglow with the saving power of Jesus’ love. The prostitutes I saw lingering outside the brothels… I met them too. They smiled, they laughed, they praised the God who rescued them from darkness. And as I entered into a beautiful night of worship while a young man named Sunil played his guitar,  I discovered the true meaning of the word redemption. How was it possible that this extravagant worshiper could be the drug addict he claimed he once was?

Just when I was wondering if the hand of God was so clearly seen in my own life, one of the boys slipped me a note that read:

Do you know that you are my very close friend i ever have. Friendship is like love. and love never end. an love not take record of rong. you are love.

Though I wished I could have stayed much longer, I’m content to leave on that note. I figure that if that was the conclusion Santosh came to after my nine-day stay at Ashagram, I did what I went there to do. And I experienced the beauty of redemption in a way I never knew that I could.

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06/28/2011

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Directed Steps

I should have been in India last year, but the trip fell through. Instead of walking the streets of Mumbai’s red light district, I was holding my breath, preparing to meet with a publisher to present my book for the very first time. Instead of sleeping in a home designed for women rescued out of the sex trade, I found myself rooming with a young woman with a calling to minister to women who don’t know that they’re beautiful. I knew that God had directed every step that led me to the She Speaks conference last year. And I knew that my meeting with Meagan was nothing short of divine.

I’m meeting up with her today, and we’re flying to India together. We’ll minister to the women in Mumbai’s red light district side by side. This is why God canceled my India trip last year. This is why He directed my steps to Concord, North Carolina. Meagan needed to go to Mumbai, and how would she get there if I didn’t invite her?

I find that God is constantly changing my plans, shaping my path, and sending me on journeys of which I had never dared to dream. Though going to India has been a longtime dream, God has expanded my vision. I’m not just going because Amy Carmichael’s story beckoned me to the mission field twelve years ago. I’m not just going because I fell in love with a ministry that pulls women and children out of the darkness of sex slavery. I’m not just going because I feel compelled to write a novel about a girl who goes through the red light district. I’m not just going because it’s an amazing ministry opportunity to serve alongside my divinely appointed roommate-for-a-weekend. I’m not just going because my older brothers are going to be able to meet me there. I’m going for all those reasons and more.

I would appreciate your prayers during this adventure. I know that I’m going to be stretched to my limits. I know that I’m going to see things that are hard to bear. I know that my heart is going to break. I need God’s strength. I need your prayers. This blog is going to be quiet for a couple weeks now, but I’ll see you when I get back from India, and boy, will I have a story to tell…